Humanitarian crises, sectarian clashes, and terrorism in Afghanistan will inevitably impact Iran. The Iranian government holds no illusions about Afghanistan's myriad of problems, nor is there any expectation that these will soon be resolved.

The twist of the latest CIA cash scandal is not the CIA is handing over wads of U.S. bills to a corrupt president. It is that the CIA has continued to hand over cash for so long, which is not merely unethical but now antithetical to the U.S. government's stated policy goals.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced that local security forces will take over control in the provinces of Bamiyan, Panjshir, and much of Kabul, from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) beginning in July.